Feature Archives

In recent weeks, actions have been organized at the Israel Consulate in San Francisco to protest the country's war crimes in Gaza. On September 12, "blood" flowed into the gutter after demonstrators used red paint to make bloody hand prints on an Israeli flag to protest the starvation and ongoing massacre with American bombs. Others drummed, banged on pots and pans, and blew horns. Some held photos of skeletal starving children.

The ever-present White House Peace Vigil tent, an iconic staple across from the executive mansion for the last 44 years, was removed by National Park Service Police on September 7 by order of Donald Trump. Trump, who claimed to have not previously known of its existence, when informed of its presence, labeled it an “eyesore” and ordered its removal as part of his erasure of homeless encampments in Washington D.C.

The racist mural on 41st Street and Piedmont Avenue in Oakland was finally fixed. Neighbors hugged with joy as they celebrated the artistic amendment that included depictions of Indigenous resistance to colonial violence. Titled "The Capture of the Solid, Escape of the Soul,” the mural was originally painted by non-native artist Rocky Rische-Baird in 2006 to the loud and persistent protest of the local Indigenous community.

Activists on the West Coast from Bellingham, WA to San Diego, CA organized highway banner drops on August 29 to amp up the Global Chevron Boycott, which has been initiated as a priority campaign by Palestine's Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Chevron operates and co-owns fossil gas fields off the coast of occupied Palestinian land that Israel has illegally claimed, and also manages a pipeline that runs from Israel to Egypt.

On August 25, Aleyda Rodriguez was grabbed by ICE agents in East Palo Alto as she, her husband, and their child were leaving to go to work and school. She fainted when agents pulled her out of her car and carried her away. She was brought to Stanford Hospital, kept under watch of armed guards, and five days later discharged to DHS while in a catatonic state. Shortly after, hospital workers and community members staged a protest.

Over 100 members of Jewish Voice for Peace Sacramento and their allies staged a sit-in in the lobby of Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in Sacramento on August 27 as U.S. Senator Alex Padilla participated as a featured guest in Politico’s corporate funded inaugural California policy summit. The protest was part of a Jewish-led day of action across the state calling on both U.S. Senators from California to stop voting to arm Israel.

As the California Legislature returned to session after summer recess, climate activists organized multiple events at the state Capitol. On August 18, demonstrators unfurled large banners in the Capitol rotunda proclaiming “Newson Stand Up To Big Oil." On August 20, advocates representing a coalition of 140 organizations held a press conference on the Capitol lawn to call attention to oil industry-backed bills moving through the session this year.